Monday, May 9, 2011

Instrumental Music Update

Dear Instrumental Music Community,

May is always an exciting month in the music department. On May 1st both the Jazz Band and the Jazz Ensemble played at This Must Be the Place in Lemont. Both groups played a high energy swinging sets to a packed room. The Jazz Band then went on to repeat their set at Hackneys of Palos Hills for yet another packed crowd and professional musicians on May 4th. Thank you to both venues for supporting music education and to Tom Fox and the Brass Tacks Big Band for featuring our students.

Congratulations to Kevin Dinh and Ben Mitchell who have been selected to perform for Senior Awards Night this Wednesday along with Megan Welch and the Seniors of Madrigals. The evening will begin at 7:00 PM with pre-ceremony music provided by Sarah Otmanski and Maggie McLaughlin, and Mr. McOlgan.

On Thursday the Orchestra will be going on a field trip to hear an open rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra featuring Yo Yo Ma!

All music ensembles will be photographed on the morning of May 19th. Students should arrive to school by 7:45 in their concert attire. The photo will be taken in the auditorium, more information about ordering this photo, or ordering photos taken earlier in the year will be made available at a later date.

On May 21st the Jazz Band and Chamber Orchestra will be featured along with a Choir at the Riverside Arts Fair. The Jazz Band will begin at 2:00 PM and the Chamber Orchestra will begin at 2:45 PM. We hope to see many familiar faces in the crowd!

On May 24th at 7:00 PM the Chamber Orchestra will hold its final recital of the year at Ascension Lutheran Church in Riverside. The group will be playing two contemporary pieces as well as the 4th movement from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Orchestra.

The Apollo Awards will be held on May 26th, not May 19th as listed in the student handbook. This is an evening where we celebrate all of our musical accomplishments of the year and award our outstanding musicians. The evening starts at 7:00 PM in the main Gym, and is followed up with a reception to be held in the Cafeteria.

Graduation will be held on June 3rd. All band students need to meet at 6:00 PM that evening dressed up.

Congratulations to Kevin Dinh, Ben Mitchell, Sarah Otmanski, and Sam Romo who all played with the Protégé Philharmonic this weekend at Navy Pier. This is an outstanding orchestra featuring many of Chicago’s most talented young students.